Virtua Fighter 5
Virtua Fighter 5 is the latest game in Sega's Virtua Fighter series and direct sequel to Virtua Fighter 4 for the PS2. It was released on July 12, 2006 into Japanese arcades. Virtua Fighter 5 was released for PlayStation 3 on February 20, 2007 (despite the advertised date of February 23) and was a launch title for the European release in March. The Xbox 360 port was released in October 2007 in North America and Europe. Virtua Fighter 5 was to be ported to Japan on December 6, 2007 and its title is Virtua Fighter 5: Live Arena. The Xbox 360 port has benefited from the additions and refinements that have been made to the Version C arcade revision, while the PlayStation 3 port is based around the older Version B. revision. The Xbox 360 version also includes online play on release. Plot The Fourth World Fighting Tournament had come down to one final bout between Kage-Maru and Shun Di. But as Kage-Maru launched his final offensive, the glowing, sliver form of Dural interrupted the match. "Mother..." Kage-Maru whispered, facing the transformed being that had once been Tsuikage. Knowing full well that it was too late to save his mother, Kage-Maru destroyed her with own hands. But when he looked at her face. his expression froze. "This is..." Concered by Dural's defeat, J6 captured Vanessa for the next phase of the Dural program. But before they could could turn her into the next Dural, she disappeared -- apparently with inside help. But they had already captured her combat data into the production-model Dural, and thus J6 announced the Fifth World Fighting Tournament to test the abilites of the new V-Dural and to determine the identity of the traitors with J6. All the invitations for the Fifth World Fighting Tournament have been sent and now the 17 best fighters in the world begin their final phases of preparation. They must learn from prior mistakes and perfect every aspect of their mind, body, and soul - for there is no room for mistakes in this competition. Character List New Fighters *El Blaze *Eileen Returning Fighters * Akira Yuki * Kage-Maru * Sarah Bryant * Shun Di * Goh Hinogami * Lau Chan * Pai Chan * Lei-Fei * Brad Burns * Wolf Hawkfield * Jacky Bryant * Aoi Umenokouji * Jeffry McWild * Lion Rafale * Vanessa Lewis Ultimate Boss * John * Dural Changes from Virtua Fighter 4 New Characters Two new characters are featured in Virtua Fighter 5. The first character, Eileen, is a young girl who uses Monkey Kung Fu and enters the tournament to face her idol, Pai, whom she saw at a martial arts demonstration prior to the fifth tournament. The second character is El Blaze, a lucha libre wrestler who wishes to defeat Wolf Hawkfield. Gameplay * Throw speed has been reduced, from 8 frames to 12 frames. In addition, "Instant", or 0-frame throws re-appear from Virtua Fighter 3 in guaranteed throw situations (such as during an evade). * To encourage a more "moral" style of play, Sega introduce the Clash System: when initiated with the right timing, an attack can be canceled out with a throw, creating a clash and leaving both players at +0 frame advantage (neutral). * Offensive Move: pressing Punch + Kick + Guard during an evade will initiate an angled forward dash. In addition, pressing Punch or Kick during OM will initiate an attack which can lead to side or back stagger or crumple, leading to a guaranteed combo opportunity. * The Xbox 360 version introduced online support via Xbox Live, which allowed two players from around the world to battle it out over the internet. Developers have also suggested that the PS3 version could also be online-enabled in the form of a downloadable patch. This was later discounted by Sega's Jay Boor who told: "at this time SEGA has no plans to release a patch for the PS3 version of Virtua Fighter 5." * Version C of Virtua Fighter 5 will be used for the 360 version which fixes up some gameplay issues, while the PS3 version used version B. * Different items are available in the Xbox 360 port of the game in Quest mode, as it is based upon Version C. * On January 16, 2008 the Xbox 360 version received an update, which made improvements and changes to online play and quest mode. Ranking System The ranking system in Virtua Fighter 5 is different from Virtua Fighter 4. The following outlines the ranks obtainable: * 10th Kyu to 1st Kyu * 1st Dan to 10th Dan After the Dan ranks, a character's title is dependent on winning percentage. * If a character's winning percentage is less than 70 percent they will obtain the following ranks: Master - Defender - Enforcer - Sentinel - Protector - Guardian - Paladin - Liberator * If a character's winning percentage is between 70 and 80 percent they will obtain the following ranks: Master - Hunter - Raider - Barbarian - Assassin - Slayer - Berserker - Destroyer * If a character's winning percentage is above 80 percent they will obtain these ranks: Master - Warrior - Veteran - Gladiator - Vindicator - Avenger - Vanquisher - Conqueror This implementation has led to some players' confusion as to what is the highest rank. Upon obtaining "Conqueror" players have not gone through the other two ranking trees, and so, believe that other ranks exist above them. A character's winning percentage can and does change over time. This can lead to crossing from one rank tree to another (i.e. an "Enforcer" can rank up to "Barbarian" and then up or down to "Vindicator" or "Protector"). The only time a rank tree is final is when a character obtains their 28th rank, "Liberator", "Destroyer", or "Conqueror". It is impossible to change ranks once a character obtains their final rank, the experience bar stops moving, even when fighting other 28th rank opponents. It also appears to be impossible to rank down from this level, locking a character into their final title. Reception 1UP A+ Gamer.tm 9 out of 10 Game Informer 9 out of 10 IGN 9 out of 10 Eurogamer 9 out of 10 OXM 9 out of 10 Electronic Gaming Monthly 9.5, 10, 9.5 out of 10 Famitsu 34 out of 40 GameTrailers 88 out of 100 Official Xbox Magazine 9.0/10 IGN 8.8 out of 10 Gamespot 8.1 out of 10 Videos Category:Games